More Than 690,000 Nationality Applications Sit Waiting at the IRN, and About a Quarter Come From Immigrants Living in Portugal

The Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN, the registry and notary institute) had 690,480 Portuguese nationality applications waiting for a decision on 30 June 2026, 38 percent more than a year earlier. The figures come from the Ministério da Justiça (Ministry of Justice), which gave them to the daily Público; Observador and ECO reported them on Wednesday. The ministry has not published the breakdown itself.

Who is waiting

According to the reports, 26 percent of the pending files are from immigrants living in Portugal who applied on the strength of their years of legal residence. On our arithmetic, that is roughly 180,000 people. A further 23 percent are Sephardic Jewish descent applications, 13 percent are based on marriage or a união de facto (a registered de facto partnership) with a Portuguese citizen, about 11 percent are grandchildren of Portuguese citizens born abroad, and about 10 percent are children of Portuguese citizens born abroad. ECO puts the backlog in June 2025 at about half a million.

ECO quotes the ministry as saying the IRN gives priority to applications from minors who are descendants of Portuguese citizens and that arrive through consulates or online, because these recognise a nationality held from birth.

Which rules apply to a pending file

The Lei da Nacionalidade (Nationality Law, Lei n.º 37/81) was rewritten by Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 (Organic Law 1/2026), promulgated on 3 May and published on 18 May. Its Article 8 puts it in force the day after publication, so on 19 May. The June figures cover only about six weeks under the new law.

Under the amended Article 6, naturalisation now needs at least seven years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and of EU member states, and ten years for everyone else, against five years for all before. The new text also adds a test of Portuguese culture, history and national symbols, knowledge of citizens' rights and duties, and the ability to support oneself.

The key point for anyone already in the queue is Article 7 of the 2026 law: administrative procedures pending on the day it took effect are governed by Lei n.º 37/81 as worded before the change. In other words, an application lodged by 18 May is judged under the old rules, including the five-year residence period.

What this means for you

• Follow your file online. The Ministry of Justice's nationality status service is free and uses the consultation code emailed to you when the application was registered. If your lawyer or solicitor applied for you, the code may have gone to them.
• Know the four stages. The page shows Submetido (registered), Em análise (being checked, which can include waiting on other bodies), Para decisão (a decision has been issued) and Concluído (granted and registered, or refused and archived).
• Lost the code? Ask at a Balcão da Nacionalidade (nationality desk) or call the Linha Registos (registry helpline) on +351 211 950 500 with your file number and identity details. Some files, such as late birth registrations for people born before 1975 in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe or East Timor, cannot be followed online.
• Answer any letter on time. The IRN has been sending preliminary refusal notices that give applicants 30 days to reply in writing, as we reported in August.

If you have not yet applied, the new seven and ten year periods apply to you. Under the amended Article 15, separate periods of legal residence can be added together if they fall within nine years (Portuguese-speaking and EU nationals) or twelve years (others).